Rail anchor



Oct. 9, 1956 RAIL ANCHOR Adam Gehnert, Marsh, Mont. Application October8, 1953, Serial No. 384,910 2 Claims. (Cl. 238-327) This inventionrelates to a rail anchor, and has as its primary object the provision ofa device adapted to be attached to a railway rail to prevent forwardmovement or creeping of the rail, and comprises a device adapted to beattached to the rail and bear against one of the cross ties to which therail is secured.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a device ofthis nature which will firmly and securely hold the rail againstlongitudinal displacement.

A further object of the invention is the provision of such a devicewhich may be readily and inexpensively manufactured, and which may beapplied to the rail with a minimum of effort and difficulty.

Still other objects reside in the combinations of elements, arrangementsof parts, and features of construction, all as will be more fullypointed out hereinafter, and disclosed in the accompanying drawingwherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of this inventive concept.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the device of the instant inventionas applied to a rail, the method of application and the tool thereforbeing indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig.1 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modification of a portion of thedevice.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

Having reference now to the drawing in detail there is generallyindicated at a fragment of railroad rail to which the rail anchor of theinstant invention is applied. The anchor comprises basically a strip ofresilient metal generally indicated at 11, which includes a portion 12adapted to overlie the rail, a portion 13 extending downwardly at theside of the rail, and a portion 14 which extends beneath the rail andspaced therefrom. The portion 14 is reverted as indicated at 15 tounderlie the base of the rail, and thence extends upwardly as at 16 andis looped back as at 17, with a portion extending downwardly at 18 and asecond underlying portion 19 extending beneath the rail. The portion 19is looped back as indicated at 20 inwardly of the portion 14, and thenceextends beneath the portion 19 as indi cated at 21, and is formed with adepending portion 22, which terminates in an upwardly extendingprojection 23 which abuts the underside of the portion 19. Thisconstruction provides a resilient seat, and the side of the device isadapted to bear against a cross tie, to prevent longitudinal movement ofthe rail. The second portion of the device comprises a locking bargenerally indicated at 25, which is adapted to surround the resilientspring steel member 20, and is provided with hooks 26 adapted to overlieone side of the flange 27 of rail 10. A second set of depending hooks 28extendrates I atent ing oppositely from the hooks 26 are also provided,in order that the device may be used on diflerent widths of rail.

In the application of the device the resilient member 11 is firstpositioned as shown in Fig. 1, and the clamping bar 25 is positioned asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. A tool is utilized to move bar 25to the full line position indicated in Fig. l, and the tool comprises anupper jaw 30 to which is pivotally secured a lower jaw 31, the lower jawbeing adapted to engage the end portion of clamping bar 25 to move thesame to the full line position as indicated in Fig. 1.

A modified form of clamping bar is shown in Fig. 4 at 35, and includesdepending hook portions 36, and a central aperture 37 adapted tosurround the spring steel member 11. The application of this device issubstantially identical to that previously described, and the devicediifers only in that it is made of lighter metal. When moved to theposition shown in Fig. 1 in full lines the member 35 will serveeifectively to clamp the member 11 tightly against the rail and againstthe tie, and thus preclude creeping of the rail in a longitudinaldirection.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided animproved rail anchor, which accomplishes all the objects of thisinvention, and others, including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance.

As various embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and asvarious modifications may be made in the embodiments hereinbefore shownand described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising an integral resilient strip of metalincluding a horizontal end portion overlying one flange of the rail butspaced therefrom, a downwardly extending portion extending to a pointbelow said one rail flange, an upwardly inclined portion extendingbeneath the rail but spaced therefrom, a reverted horizontal portionclosely engaging the base of the rail, an upwardly extending portionlooped back over said one flange beneath said horizontal end portion, avertical portion extending downwardly from said looped back portionclosely engaged between said first mentioned downwardly extendingportion and said upwardly extended portion of said looped back portion,a third horizontal portion extending from said last mentioned portionengaging closely beneath said horizontal portion engaging the base ofsaid rail, said last mentioned portion being looped back to form aportion closely engaging the upper side of said upwardly inclinedportion and terminating in a fourth short horizontal portion engagingbeneath said third horizontal portion, a downwardly inclined portion atthe end of said short horizontal portion and an upwardly inclinedterminal portion having its end abutting the underside of said thirdmentioned horizontal portion, and clamping means for holding saidresilient strip against said rail.

2. A rail anchor comprising an integral resilient strip of metalincluding a horizontal end portion overlying one flange of the rail butspaced therefrom, a downwardly extending portion extending to a pointbelow said one rail flange, an upwardly inclined portion extendingbeneath the rail but spaced therefrom, a reverted horizontal portionclosely engaging the base of the rail, an upwardly extending portionlooped back over said one flange beneath said horizontal end portion, avertical portion extending downwardly from said looped back portionclosely engaged between said first mentioned downwardly extendingportion and said upwardly extended 3 portion of said looped backportion, a third horizontal portion extending from said last mentionedportion engaging closely beneath said horizontal portion engaging thebase of said rail, said last mentioned portion being looped back to forma portion closely engaging the upper side of said upwardly inclinedportion and terminating in a fourth short horizontal portion engagingbeneath said third horizontal portion, a downwardly inclined portion atthe end of said short horizontal portionand an upwardly inclinedterminal portion having its end abutting the underside of said thirdmentioned horizontal portion, and clamping means for holding said 5opposite said one flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS McCombDec. 13, 1949 2,514,601 Fifield July 11, 1950 2,551,507 Skeel May 1,1951

